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(139) There is however one special point of which we take note. controversy has arisen in the past, and express statutory protection has been given, with regard to certain sandbanks opposite Greenock, the dredging of which with a view to improving and straightening the entrance to the narrow channel would, it is said, result in silting in, and in the approaches to, Greenock Harbour. How far this apprehension is justified from an engineering standpoint is a matter of divergent expert opinion on which we can express no view. It seems to us very improbable that the new authority would undertake any operations in the river calculated to imperil or injure one of its constituent undertakings, least of all if naval developments take place in that part of the river; and it is certain that they would never contemplate doing so except for very powerful reasons. But to allay apprehen- sions which evidently persist, we should not be opposed to express provision prohibiting the dredging of these sandbanks except with specific parliamentary approval.
(140) War Emergency Ports at Faslane and Cairnryan: These ports were constructed by the War Department at a critical period of the war as an insurance against the risk of the destruction of the main Clyde ports, and to provide extra deep-water accommodation, and it is only natural that their siting and the provision of communications, equipment and facilities were dictated solely by strategical considerations and the overriding needs of the war situation. We understand that their eventual utilisation has not been decided upon by the service departments, but if they are to be employed solely for War Office or Admiralty purposes, they can be left out of account in the proposed reorganisation. Owing to their situation, means of access and absence of convenient urban facilities, we do not consider that these two ports could be converted under peacetime conditions into economic commercial port undertakings, but they could become under certain circumstances a source of unfair competition to the existing port authorities or the suggested new authority.
To meet this possibility the Ministry of War Transport on 20th January, 1942, addressed a letter to the Clyde Navigation Trust assuring them inter alia that, in respect of Faslane, if at any time after the war the Government should decide to discontinue using the port for war materials handled by military personnel, they would not dispose of the facilities to any undertaking other than the Clyde Navigation Trust without consultation and agreement with
the Trust.
This assurance, which was repeated in a letter from the Ministry dated 25th May, 1945, meantime safeguards the position, and we suggest that, if our proposals are adopted, a like assurance should apply to the new authority, and that a similar assurance should be given in respect of Cairnryan. We also suggest that, if and when the Service Departments have no further use for the two ports, they should be entrusted to the new authority on terms to be agreed, for care and maintenance and for such limited commercial use as the authority can devise. For example, it was represented to us that Faslane could be employed in whole or in part for ship-breaking, and this would be a useful outlet,
(141) Clyde Lighthouses Trust: Under our proposals this trust, after a long and successful career of useful service, would cease to exist, its functions passing to the new authority. It is quite possible that economies could be achieved by arranging for certain lights, etc., in parts of the new area to be maintained by the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners, and this will require special consideration in connexion with the major lights at the Cloch, Toward
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Point and Little Cumbrae. We understand that no difficulty need be appre- hended in adjusting any such transfer. But we can find no reasonable justification for maintaining the Lighthouses Trust as a separate entity under the new regime, for the few functions which would remain to it can equally well be performed by the new authority, with or without the co-operation of the Northern Lighthouse Commissioners.
(142) Clyde Pilotage Authority: We recognise that this is a subject governed by the overriding provisions of the Pilotage Act, 1913, and that it would be possible under our proposals for a separate Pilotage Authority to continue in being. But we have failed to discover what public advantage is to be gained by such duplication, or what possible prejudice could be sustained by any interest if pilotage were now confined to a Pilotage Committee of the new authority with added members representative of the licensed pilots. Such a system is familiar enough at other ports. It is obvious that the constitution prescribed for the pilotage authority by the existing order of 1920 has long been out of date, and will in any event require recasting if our proposals are adopted. Moreover, it is undesirable that two different authorities should be prescribing byelaws for the same area. It matters little whether this matter is dealt with as part of the general reorganisation or by a further pilotage order. In either event we advise that the present authority should be superseded by a new pilotage authority consisting of a suitably composed committee of the new port authority with the addition of the proper proportion of licensed pilots.
(143) Dock labour: We share the hope expressed to us by all parties con- cerned that the principle of decasualisation introduced on the Clyde and elsewhere during the war will be placed on a permanent basis, but we understand that the plans for the administration of the system in time of peace have not yet been worked out, It seems unlikely that the present scheme, under which the Minister of War Transport is the "legal employer of dock labour at Glasgow and Greenock, will be adopted as a permanent arrangement; but these are matters on which we are not in a position at this stage to express any view. We content ourselves by stating that, so far as we can judge, the adoption of our unification proposals would interpose no obstacle to the adoption of any permanent administrative scheme, and indeed that the existence of a single unified authority would probably offer advantages in the setting up of a permanent scheme. In our opinion the new port authority would be an entirely suitable body to be the legal employer of dock labour under any post-war decasualisation scheme.
Fy
(144) Customs: We heard certain complaints of inconvenience arising from the separation of the Customs Offices for the Greenock and Glasgow areas. If our unification proposals are adopted, we have no doubt that the Board of Customs and Excise will take any necessary administrative action to adapt their organisation in the manner best fitted to meet the general convenience.
FINANCIAL BASIS OF THE AMALGAMATION
(145) The scheme which seems to us most appropriate is that the con- stituent undertakings to be transferred to the new authority should be so transferred, with their whole assets and liabilities, the purchase consideration, if any, being an allotment of stock of the new authority of such an amount and description as will afford a just indemnity to the stockholders or other interests to be compensated.